Karlee Perez says the role of Catrina changed her life

Catrina, real name Karlee Perez, sat down with ESPN to discuss her role on Lucha Underground and upcoming movie projects. She says LU changed her life and discussed her time in NXT and more.

On her working relationship with Mil Muertes: “We’ve always had chemistry from the beginning. There’s a respect there, where he’s obviously a massive guy but he doesn’t overshadow me and I don’t overshadow him. From that paragraph [about our characters] we kind of grew into it. Our entrance and the rock were the ideas that came after reading just the paragraph that was provided to us.”

On working with Dusy Rhodes in NXT: “Because my time started in WWE and working with Dusty Rhodes, [who] was really the biggest influence I had, [he got me] really attached to the character development part, which I see there was a lack for a long time in the wrestling industry. I don’t consider the characters I play as a wrestler. I happen to know how to wrestle. I try to think more outside the box and really develop a character when I’m doing stuff in the wrestling industry. I respect we have amazing athletes. I consider myself an athlete as well. I’ve had to endure and do the same thing as everybody else, but I really take pride in the character work.”

On her decision to work with LU: “There was something atypical about it when it started. Having Robert Rodriguez, Mark Burnett, and also being where I wanted to be which was Los Angeles, it was able to give me a different view and be a part of something new. I like new things and challenges and going outside the box. You don’t grow unless you try something new.”

On how her role as Catrina helped her evolve: “It’s helped [my acting] tremendously. Definitely even more as an actress [than as a wrestler]. As an actress, I was able to really dig in [to] some cool stuff with the character, and I was allowed to. The only way you become better as an actress and as a performer is actually going through scenes and seeing what fits, what doesn’t, how your character would react in that scene. I take all that stuff seriously, which is why I think Catrina wasn’t just a stagnant character. I wanted her to have some layers to her.”

She also discusses her upcoming film roles, her match with Ivelisse, and more.